Automobile theft-preventing device



APPLICATION FILED AUG.24, 1921.

Patemd Sept. 5, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

.is a LIIIIIIlI-@Iu Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

UN WE si LOUIS F. OFWEBB, IOWA.

Aiiin orio AUTOMOBILE TI-IEFT- IE'REVENTING DEVICE.

Application filed August 24, 1,921;- Serial No. 495,055.

To @ZZ whom t may concern.' Y

Be it known that I, Louis F. l/Viisorin, a citizen of t-he UnitedStates, residing4 at Webb, in the county of Clay and Stateof Iowa, haveinvented `certain new and useful Improvements in AutomobileTheft-Prawhich they Vload the automobile, and if they are caught, theyreadily say, that they had received a phone message to get the car witha certain number and bring it in for repairs,

and then would say they had gotten the' wrong number, or misunderstoodthe num.- ber. Y

The present invention has for its purpose the provision of a device forpreventing this practice, as well as preventing the thief who gets inthe car and attempts to ride away,

from stealing the automobilei To carry this purpose out, it is the aimto provide a theft preventing ldevice wired in circuit with the sparkingcircuit of the engine, and including a plurality of bombs and actuatingdevices therefor, so that when one or more of the devices are actuatedto lire the bombs, a switch is thrown to break the circuit and stop theautomobile, and at the same time a series of bombs are ytiredconsecutively, there being the aim to provide an interval of two orthree minutes between the iiring of the bombs.

Another purpose is the provision of a device of this kind, wherebyshould the automobile be stolen, the vibrations of the automobile willcause the release of oneor more of a series of triggers, which will inturn `release hammers, adapted to strike one or more of a series ofcaps, which in turn will eX,- plode the series ot small bombs, whichwill of course attract the attention ot the police.

and as a result an easy arrest of the thief will follow., p

Still another purpose is the provision of means for setting thevibrating triggers,- to hold them against vibration, and including a`plurality ot keys, so that no one but the owner can setthe triggersunless they know i the key which has been used. providing a plurality ofkeys for setting thevibrating triggers,using vfirst one and thenanother, a

locking `or setting device' cannotgbe worked or operated by .anunauthorized persen,

`without knowing the key which has been;

used..

brations will sooner or mers.

Yhile the design and construction at prese` ent illustrated and setforth are deemed pret?k erable, it is obvious thatas a result of areduction oi" the invention to a more practical form for commercialpurposes, the inven-A A further ypurpose consists inthe provi sion ofmeans `for regulating the force. of

the vibration ,of the triggers, so that thevi later release theham,

tion may be susceptibleof changes,y and the ,v

right to these changes is claimed, provided they are comprehended withinthe scope otv what is claimed,

The inventionvcomprises further features and combination oi-l parts, aswill behereinay after set forth, shown in the drawings and claimed. I Inthe drawings:v y Figure l is a sectional view through a portion of aconventional form ot automobile,

showing the dash, a portion of the engine and the hood, illustrating thetheft prevent-'- ing device as applied, and also showing a series ofkeysto be used for setting the vif brating triggers 5 Figure 2 is asectional view on line 2 2 of Figure 1 Figure 3 is a sectional view online 3 3 ofy Figure 2; l

Figure et is aview similar to Figure 2 showing one of the hammershavingbeen released, and also showing the diagram of the circuit of thesparking mechanism of automobile g v Figure 5 is a sectional view online5 5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a sectional view on line 6 6 of Figure 2; i

Figure 7 is aplan view of the holder for a plurality of bombs; i

Figure 8 is a sectional view on line `8 8 ot Figure 7 i Figure 9 is adiagrammatic view of thearrangement of the various bombs as are ar#ranged between the members of the support; Figure 10 is a detailperspective view 'of the Sleeve 50; and

Figure 11 is a detail view in section of one side of the casing 1,showing the depressions 68 for the reception of the ends oi' the pin 67.

Referring to the drawings, 1 rdesignates a casing of the automobiletheft preventing device, which may be mounted in any suitable locationon the automobile, either under the seat, so that the setting keys maybe inserted through the front wall of the seat, or on the dash under thehood,A preferably the latter, as shown clearly in Figure l.

Journaled in the casing is a shaft 2 on which a plurality or" cap tiringhammers 3 is mounted. rl`hese hammers have U-shaped portions a, throughthe arms of which the shaft 2 extends, there being a plurality ofsprings 5 mounted upon the shaft 2, with certain of theirends 6 engagingthe trans- 'verse portions of the U-shaped ends of the hammers.

Mounted and secured in the casing' 1 is an alarm device 7, which' ismade up oix a plurality of bomb carrying plates 8, in depres sions 9 ofwhich suitable bombing material, such as ulminate is deposited. 'lll "eplates are separated by means of the spacing pieces 10, which are formedromvany suitable librous material, such as pasteboard, or paper .pulp orthe like. These pieces 'oit plates l0 cover the depressions or cups othe plates 8, thereby acting to hold the dry 'iulminate or other bombingmaterial in place'. The bottom of the alarm device has a holding platel1, which holds the lower brous piece or spacing member in position.liiountet. on the top of the alarm device is also a` hold ing plate 12,and passing through the .tour corners of the alarm device., which has aplurality of bombs, say tor instance eighty, more or less in number, arerods 13., the ends of which are headed, so as to hold the partstogether. rlhe upper holding plate 1Q has a plurality oli percussioncaps 14.-., which are arranged adjacent and l'orm the first top row o1the bombs 15. rThe percussion caps la are arranged so as to be engager.by the portions 16 olf the hammers i3, when released, thus upon firingany one or two or more of the caps, thelirst top row of bombs will belired. lt only one percussion cap is fired,

the bomb immediately under the same is fired, and since the severalbombs throughout the alarm device are connected by Vfuses 17,' the bombsof the uppermost plate 8 are fired. The 'fuses between the bombs are oisuch character that there would be an interval of at least two to threeseconds more loi less between the iringv ot' the bombs. Upon f referringto Figure 9 it will be seen that the bombs of the several plates 8 areinterconnected, so that when the bombs of the up perH mostplate 8 tiredor exploded, the bombs of the succeeding plates below -are consecutivelyfired. For instance shown in ure 9 the bombs of the uppermost plate 8are connected to the bombs of the plate 8 immediately below, by means ofthe fuse 18. rlhe bombs of the second plate below are connected to thethird plate below by means oi' the fuse 19, and the bombs of the thirdplate `below are connected to the adjacent plate thereunder by means ofthe fuse 20. The bombs of the several plates are interconnected in thismanner, so that the bombs or' the several plates will hre consecutively.The number of bombs is governed by the number of plates to be used inthe alarm device. ln the present instance there are teen bombs carriedby each plate, and since there are five plates superim Josed and spaced,it will be noted that the a arm device comprises eighty bombs, althoughany number ol: bombs may be employed.

The coil springs 5, as previously stated are mounted upon the shaft 2,and have their ends 2l resting upon the upper plate 12 of the bombing oralarm device. so as to tension the springs.

Mounted in the casing 1 is switch, which comprises a U-shaped switchmember the lateral ends of the arms oi' which are journaled in bearingsof: the casing l. This U-shaped switch member is arranged, so that itstransverse portion 24 engages over the edges o'l the hammers, when theyare set for firing' the bombs. As shown in Figure 4 the usual sparkingcircuit 25 ot an automobile is disclosed, and mounted upon one end oithe casing 1 are contact terminals 96, which are insulated at 28 fromthe wall of the cas- These plates 26 are connected to the wall ot thecasing by means of the usual. binding screws 29, to which the leads 30oli the sparking circuit 25 are connected. The terminal plates 26 havespaced ears 31, which are provided with registering depressions 32, to"receive the projections of the switch link 34e, which is pivotallycarried as 35 on the transverse part of the switch member 1td'vhen thehammer. are set, and the switch link engaged between the terminal ears31 of the plates :26, the circuit is closed. and the enginev oi theautomobile is capable of operating. However-just as soon as one or moreof the hammers are released, the switch member 22 will be actuated, by

one or more of the hammers contacting therewith, moving it `upon itspivot, thereby withdrawing the projections 33 of the switch link fromthe sockets or depressions olf' the 'terminal ears, hence breaking thesparking circuit, and rendering the engine of the au tomobileinoperative. As previously stated when one or more of the hammers arereleased, the bombs are exploded consecutively, thereby giving warningthat an unauthorized person is in the act of takingthe automobile. Thewarning will attract attention, heim@ an easy arrest of the thief will'lfollowz Mounted in bearings of the casing 1 is a transverse shaft 36,and mounted on the y shaft is avplurality of coil bodies 37 of thevibrating triggers y38. The coil bodiesf are spaced by means off the-collars 39.` The shorter arms 40ct the triggers have theirnals of thearms 40 of said triggers will dis-` engage .from the hammers, and allowthe hammersto. actuate. It is obvious that by screwing the weights 45toward the coil bod-j ies of the triggers, substantial vibrations arenecessary to cause the shorter arms 4to disengage the hammers. Byadjusting. the weights 45 from the coil bodies of `the trig' gers, the 1vibrations of the triggers are greater, thereby more readily actingtoerelease the hammers.

In using this improved theft preventing device, it is the aim to set thetriggers, and while the owner ofthe automobile is operating the same,the triggers are unable to vibrate, henceV preventing Athe release ofthe hammers unnecessarily. l,It isy also the aim to yprovide means forpreventing the vibration of the longer arms of the triggers, when theowner is-operating the automobile.. In

order to holdthe triggers set from vibrating,

holding members 46,47, 48 and 49 are provided. These members are in theform of discs, and are mounted on the key receiving sleeve 50, which iscapable of rotation. Each holding` member is in the form of a disc, andis provided with an arcuate surface or edge 51. lVhen the discs orholding members are in position orrset to prevent vibrations of thelonger arms of the triggers, the arcuate surfaces or .edges 51V areengaged by the longer arms of the triggers, hence preventing thetriggers from vibrating, and also avoidingthe triggers disengaging thehammers. The holding members or discs are ro tatable in one directiononly, and are provided with diametrically opposite notches- 52 and 53.Secured to the bottom of the casingV 1 areleaf springr dogsnor catches54,

which are aligned with the discs or holding members. f The free ends .ofthe-fdogs or catches ride over the surfaces ofthe discs .or holdingmembers, sofas to engage either set of notches 52 and 53. The discs `orholding members are also provided with flat edges 55, which are oppositethe arcuate edges 51. .When the catchesor ddgs are engaged with'.

` diametrically opposite notches 58.

the notches 53, the arcuate'edges are disposed upwardly, so aste beimmediately 'engaged bythe longer arms 4350i the triggers, therebypreventing vibrations of saidk arms. Howe everywhen any one or more ofthe discs Iare set so that only therespective dogs orcatches 54 mayengage the notches 52, the fiat edges' v55 are disposed upwardly.` Inviewo'f the,- fact that the holding members ordis'c's are" f cut away toprovide the flat edges 5,5, there isnothing with which the arms-43 ofthe triggers may engage, hence the arms are free to vibrate,'as a resultof the vibrations of the y automobile, whether being carried on a,

truck, or operating'on its own wheels.' y

`As previously statedthe discs or holding members are -mounted on thesleeve 50, and one end of the sleeve is provided with fa' flange 56.`The rotating sleeve 50; isv provided with diametrically'oppositeelongated slots 57.4 -These slots extendentirely'through one endetthesleeve, `and partly through the flange 56, vwhile they terminateshort vof the opposite end4 of the sleeve. Since the slots if i 57 ofthe sleeve mergeonlypartly through the flange 56, the opposite portions`of the sleeve are held relatively rigid. The holding members or discs46 to49 are provided with the holding `members or discs are set toprevent the vibrations of the longer arms of the triggers,.i n whichcasethe arcuate edges 51 are engagedby-thelonger arms, the diametricallyoppositenotches 58 of the discs or holding members 'are in registrationwith the slots 57, therefore the holding rdjogs vorV spring catches 54are engaged with the notches 53;.

'As shown infFigure 1 there isa plurality or keys 59, 60, 61 and62, anyone ofwhich will enter the sleeve 50` for rotating and setting theholding members or discs.V The key 59 is provided with a pair ofylugs63, which enter certain of the notches 58 andI one of the slots 57 andwhen the key is inserted it's full length theglug's- 63 willengage thenotches 58 f of the discs' or holding members 47 and 49, therebypermitting the discs47 and49- tobe rotated, so as to'dispose the iiatedges or surl,

faces 5510i1 theholding members or discs 47 andl 49 under the `longerarms 43 .of the f triggers? In this casethe longervarms 43. of

the triggers immediately overlying they discs" 47 and49 -will vibrate,thereby releasing cer.- .tain ofthe hammer's'3wh ich will fire their.'`

respective percussion caps ,14. `-'1`he vkey 60 isprovided with aplurality of lugs 64,31which will engage the notches 58 of all ourhold-F ing members or` discs, whereby the. sleeve and the entire setofholdingmembers'orl discs' may be rotated --fordisposing theirpre-y 43 ofthe triggers, in l'which case all'four hammers' are released, and theirrespective percussion caps 14. h"The key. 61 is provided i@ l spectivelflat 'edges or surfaces underthe :arms

notches 58 ot the discs or holding members 46 and 48, for rotating themandr setting their flat edges or surfaces under the arms 43. ln thiscase the triggers overlying` the discs or holding members 46 and 48 willvibrate and release their respective hammers. The key 62 has a singlelug 56, which engages one of the notches 58 ot the holding member ordisc 49, which will act to dispose its respective flat edge or surfaceunder the arm 43 or the adjacent trigger, thereby releasing a singlehammer. lt is obvious that other keysmay be used, and provided with lugsfor turning the discs or h olding members 47 and 48, or for turning thediscs 46 or 49, or for turning the single lisc 46, or either oic thesingle discs 47 and 48. lt is also obvious that other holding members ordiscs may be used, and in this case additional keys may be employedMsoas to `provide additional combinations. llt will be noted that thecatches orl dogs 54 hold their respective discs or holding membersaligned, and in order to hold the sleeve 50 in a position so that itsdiametrically opposite slots 57 may register with the notches 48, oneend of the sleeve is provided, with a'transverse pin 67, the projectingend of which is designed to engage the diametrically oppositedepressions 68 in one wall ot the casing` l. ln other words when vtheopposite ends of the pin 67 are engaged injits respective 'depressions68, the longitudinal slots register with the notches 58, thereby holding4the discs or holding members in position, either v'with theirarcuateedges 5l immediately under the arms 43, or the lat edges underthe arms 43. llt is the aim that the owner ot the ca r should rememberwhich key was used when the deviceis set, sothat certain arms 43 of thetriggers may vibrate,especially when the owner returns to theautomobile, and desires torelock the device, thereby avoiding thelvibrations ot the triggers, and hence cause the tiring ot the bombsunnecessarily,

ils previously stated'by providing a plurality ol.l holdingmembers ordiscs it is possible to use a great variety ot keys, theretore no onecan lock the device unless it is known what key was used in unlocking`the same. rlvhe owner ot the automobile can have two or more keys, andby using first one and then` another. it makes the locking Ldevice sothat it cannot be worked by any one who is not aware ot the key whichhas been used'ieor locking the device. By means ofthe adjustable weightson the vibrating arms, the alarm bombs can be fired easier at certaintimes than l'at other times, and it" is the aim to adjust these weightsaccording to the roads to be traversed. For instance on concrete roadsor city pavements the weights are designedk to be adjusted to theirlimit toward the tree end ot the arms 43, so that the arms 43 canvibrate much easier, than when traveling` on rough dirt or other roadbeds. When traveling on rough road beds such as dirt or other surfacethe weights may be adjusted inwardly, so that the increased vibrationsof the automobile may vibrate the arms 43 as easy as when the automobilemay be traveling on concrete roads or city pavements.

il hen the owner leaves the automobile, the alarm device is set, byturning one or more of the discs or holding members, so that the edgesare under the vibrating arms 48, by imparting a half turn to the sleeve50.

lt it were not for the depressions 68` in one wall of the casing, thevibrations of the automobile would cause the sleeve 50 to graduallyrotate, which would .prevent the key 'from being` inserted. Furthermorethe pin kS7 limits the insertion 'of the kei, and being that the owneris aware that the key actuate and tire the bombs, and attract atjtention..

The casing of the device is designed to be fastened to the automobile bythe angle plates 69, which are carried by the end of the casing.Furthermore the flanged end ot the sleeve 5() axially aligns with anopening in thelianged sleeve 70, which is carried in the dash ot theautomobile, so that any one ot the keys may be inserted.

llllhen it is stated that the device is locked, itis meant that thedevice will not operate to give warning, and in this case the automobilemay be moved by the owner or they Droper "person, and when the .termunlocked is used, the automobile cannot be moved but a short distance,before the'warning will be given. Secured to one side of vthe 'casing isa flat spring 7l, which bears against the end of the sleeve 50,y therebyholding the transverse pin 67 in the depressions 68. When rotating thesleeve 50 it is necessary to vexert a certain amount ot force on the'key, so as to overcome'the tension of the flat spring 7l.

The hammers have a slot 7 2 to receivethe hook olf an implement (notshown), for setting the hammers in engagement with vthe lower arms ofthe triggers.

The casing is providedwith a cover 73 which lits over the top of thecasing, there being a suitable headed bolt "(4 for holding The covermaybe the cover in position. otherwise secured to the casing 1n anysuitiso lable manner (not shown), whereby lno one but the owner of theautomobile` may `remove the cover. f

The invention having 'been set forth, what is claimed as being newanduseful is:

l. In an automobile theftpreventing device, the combination with acasing, of an alarm device, a pluralityof hammers adapted to strike andsound the alarm device, a plurality of vibrating members for holding thehammers set, whereby upon the disengagement of any one oi the vibratingmembers from its respective hammer, the alarm may be sounded.

2. In an automobile theft preventing device, the combination with acasing, of an alarm device, a plurality of hammers adapted to strike andsound the alarm device, a plurality of vibrating members for holding thehammers set, whereby upon the disengagement of any one of the vibratingmembers from Aits respective hammer, the alarm may be sounded, meansadapted to be actu- 'acted by any one of the hammers when released, forthe purpose of stopping the automobile.

f3. In an automobile theft preventing device, the combination with acasing, of an alarm device, a plurality of hammers adapt-` ed to strikeand sound the alarm device, a plurality or" vibrating members forholding the hammers set, whereby upon the disengagement of any one ofthe vibrating members from its respective hammer, the alarm may besounded, adjustable devices on said vibrating members, for regulatingthe force of vibrations of said members.

4. In an automobile theft preventing device, the combination with acasing, of an alarm device, a plurality of hammers adapted to strike andsound the alarm device, a plurality of vibrating members for holding thehammers set, whereby upon the disengagement of any one of the vibratingmembers from its respective hammer, the alarm may be sounded, meansadapted to be actuated by any one of the hammers when released, for thepurpose of stopping the automobile, adjustable devices on said vibratingmembers, for regulating the force of vibrations of said members.

may be sounded, and means vadapted to be` set to engage with and in thepath of said vibrating members, to prevent the members from vibrating.

6. In an automobile theft preventing de vice, the combination with acasing, of an gagement of any one of the vibrating membersiirom itsrespective' hammer, the alarm may 'be sounded, and vmeans adapted-tubeset: to engage with andinthe'path'pf said from vibrating,.said lastmentioned y'means 'alarm device, a plurality of hammers adapt ed tostrike and sound the alarm device, a plurality of vibrating members iorvholding the hammers set, whereby upon the disengagement of any one oithe vibrating members from its respective hammer, thealarm may besounded, means adapted to be vibrating lmeinb'ers, to preventthe'members Y being-"movable soas to :adjustportions oi' soy actuated byany one of the hammers when,

released, for the -purpose of stopping the automobile, and means adaptedto be set to engage 'with and in the path of said vibrating members, toprevent the members from vibrating.

8. In an automobile theft preventingdevice, the combination'withl acasing, of an alarm device, a plurality oi hammers adapted to strike andsound the alarm device, a i

plurality of vibrating members forholding the hammers set, whereby uponthe disengagement or" any one of the vibrating mem-` bers from itsrespective hammer, thealarm may be sounded, adjustable devices onsaidvibrating members, for regulating the force or vibrations of saidmembers, and means 1 adapted to be set to engage with and in the path ofsaid vibrating members, to prevent the members from vibrating.

9. In a device for the purpose indicated, a casing, a plurality of alarmbombs including a series of percussion caps for exploding said bombs, aplurality of hammers, a plurality of vibrating members to hold thehammers set, whereby upon vibration of any one or4 more of said members,one or more of the hammers may release for v'ring one or more percussioncaps, means for preventing the members from vibrating', said meanshaving arcuate edges to engage and prevent tated for rotating anyone ora combination of said discs for exposing the flattened edges oppositeone or a combination of said vibrating members, whereby said membersyare free to vibrate, to release one or a'combination of hammers.

`comprising va plurality of rotatable discs v l0. In a device for thepurpose indicated, .y

a casing, a plurality of alarm bombs includ# ing a series of percussioncaps for exploding iso 'v y said bombsya plurality of hammers, aplurality of y vibrating members to hold the hammers set, whereby uponvibration o1 any one er more of said members, one or more of the hammersmay release for firingkone or more percussion caps, means for preventingthe members from vibrating, said means comprising a plurality ofrotatable discs having arcuate edges to engage and prevent the membersfrom'vibrating;7 said discs having Hattened edges, and means adapted tobe rotated for rotating any one or a combination el' said` dises forexposing the flattened edges opposite one or a combination of saidvibrating members, whereby said members are free to vibrate, to releaseone or a combination of hammers, means adjustable on the vibratingmembers for regulating their vibrations with respect to the road bedover which the automobile travels.

ln testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

LOUIS F. WESCHE.

